Default Image Place of Worship has been
Demolished.
Image by courtesy of
openclipart.org

The Old Chapel (Demolished),
Chapel Street,
Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

This Chapel had a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in 1689, but we understand it was closed in 1970.

The congregation meeting here appears to have formed in the 17th century, meeting in a barn belonging to Robert VINER at Stroud Water, which was registered for worship in June 1689. A site for a permanent chapel was acquired in 1704, and the meeting-house erected by 1711. The building was held in Trust for Presbyterians, but was also used by Independents. By 1811, "when John Burder was appointed pastor to revive the declining fortunes of the society, the cause had come to be regarded as Congregational".

The interior of the chapel contained Benefaction Boards, and a large number of Monuments. Old Maps, for instance OS 1884 Town Plans, 1:500 show a burial ground to the rear, and records there was seating for 860. There were also two Sunday School buildings, one to the left side, for "Boys & Girls", and one behind for Infants. Some of the monuments are understood to have been removed to Stroud Museum.

The following notice was published in The London Gazette of 19th January 1971 (p.705):

The Registrar General, being satisfied that OLD CHAPEL, Chapel Street, Stroud, in the registration district of Stroud, in the county of Gloucester, is no longer used as a place of worship by the congregation on whose behalf it was on 1st July 1837 registered for marriages in accordance with the Marriage Act 1836, has cancelled the registration. Dated 11th January 1971.

The congregation of the church were united with that of Bedford Street Congregational when it closed, and in 1977 the building was demolished. Today, the space is occupied by a new property; but the Sunday School building survives, now a meeting place of the Church of God of Prophecy. [Source: Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses, Gloucestershire (1986)]

Denomination

Now or formerly Presbyterian/Independent.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Chapel was located at OS grid reference SO8563605118. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• The Old Chapel (Demolished), Stroud shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Stroud shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Stroud, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Notices of Civil Registration of Places of Worship for marriages are published in the London edition of The Gazette. Hint: search for registrations from 1998 by choosing 'Church' notices, and the option 'Registration for solemnising marriage'. (verified 2018-12-11)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.